Golf club



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Patented ll/lay i9, i925.

Uitl ITED S TATES "PATENT OFFICE... y

MILTON B. enf-ion, es SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ,assieme To n. e.stamina a mtos., or NEW YORK, N. Y., a CORPORATION or New JERSEY.

GOLF CLUB.

Application filed February To all fio/m t may concern.'

Be it known that I., MILTON Bruton, a citizen of the UnitedStates, andresident `of Springfield, in the county of Hampden and vState ofMassachusetts, have invented cer- :tain new and useful Improven'ients inor Relating to Golf Clubs, of which the following is a specification.

The invention is designed for the purpose of enabling the user topractice strokes with his golf club intelligently, it involving meansfor indicating whether or not the club is being handled in a manner toget Vthe best results from the amount of power expended by the player.

By practising with this improved club there will be an indication madewhich will inform the user whether or not he has made a good stroke, sothat by persisting in the making such strokes as wilflgivea goodindication he will not only =develop the proper muscles, "but the makingof such strokes will become a fixed habit.

In driving a golf ball the degree of effort or power exerted may besufficient for a long drive, but unless the body, arm and wristmovements are so coordinated as will give the so called snap to theheadof the club on striking the ball, .a loss in efiiciency will result.

My improvement in one aspect involves combining with a club simulatingthe characteristics of a golf club, a device for indicating to whatdegree of efliciency the club has been used in making the stroke. If theindication is low then the user Amay know that he has not coordinatedthe necessary movements, or employed the proper' muscles to get themaximum result from the power exerted, and he can check the fault.

In the drawings Figure l is a front view of `the head and partof thestem of a golf club `with my improvement attached;

Fig. '2 is a rear-.view and Fig. 3 ris a sectional view takenlongitudinally ofthe head and adjacent parts.

In these drawings 1 indicates the stem or shaft of the club which in theexample illus,- trated is of metal and of tubular form. The head of theclub 2 is preferably of the form, weight and disposition to simulate thestandard club head.

It is slidably mounted on the shaft for which purpose it has affixedthereto by 7, 1924. Serial. N0. 1.691,234.

screws 3 a metallic sleeve 4, having in its upper end a collar 5 securedthereto by pins 6. The collarI has sliding engagement with the shaft.lVi-thin' this sleeve aspring 7 is located, bearing at its upper endupon the `collar `5 and its lower end upon a collar 8 pinned to theshaftat 9. This spring is of `.the .compression type and it normallyholds the head of the club up in `normal po- -sition relative to theshaft, this position bedetermined .by the upper end of the shank 2 ofthe head bearing up against the under side of the collar `8.

If the stroke of the club is made so as toV effect the desired snap tothe head at the time that the head would strike the ball, i. e.substantially at mid stroke, the head will move down in relation to theshaft nnder restraint of the spring 7, the strength of which ispredetermined to allow a certain movement `of the head when :the strokeis properly made. For indicating the degree of movement of the headrelative to the shaft `fand therefore the degree of :efficiency .of thestroke van indicator finger l() is arranged to work over a graduatedscale 11 .on the sleeved. This finger is carried by a band or collar l2rslidably mounted on the sleeve and having kan extension 13 lyingalongside of the shank of the head and reaching down to be engaged by aprojection or abutment 14 seated in the lower part of vthe hollow shaftwhere it is fixedby a pin l5. This projection extends through a slot inthe shank of the head and :through aslot causethe extension 13 offthelband willfcontact with the projection. There will thus occur arelative movement between the scale bearing sleeve and the pointer, theeffect being that the pointer will assume a position higher up along thescale, than it did originally before the stroke was made, and thisrelative position of the pointer and scale will be maintained when the.Srl-ins raises the sleeve with the head into normal position relativeto the shaft. rIhis will be due to the fact that the frictional Contactbetween the band 12 and the sleeve is strong enough to hold the band andpointer Vin the position the said parts have relatively assumed as aresult of the snap action imparted to the head of the club, so that itwill be found, when the spring has returned the parts toY normalposition, that the pointer or index i'inger is indicating a higher scalemark than it did whenin normal position, and this scale mark willindicate the degree of snap that has been imparted to the head of theclub in performing the stroke just made, and the user therefore canjudge as to the degree of efficiency of his stroke which of course willbe high, low or intermediate according to the pointer and scale.

After one stroke has been performed the index finger if it has movedfrom its original pointer may be set back again simply pushing it downto its lowest position, the frictioiial contact with the sleeve beingsuiiicient to hold the index finger in any position along the sleeve,until a force sufficient to overcome this frictional resistance isapplied.

The best results of course will be obtained by using the head and shaftof standard characteristics, or substantially so, though it will beunderstood that the form of these parts may be varied.

It will be understood that practice strokes may be performed to get theindications mentioned above without the use of a ball.

I claim:

1. In combination in a golf-club, a shaft, a head slidably mountedthereon and having a scale bearing portion, an index, means between theshaft and index to restrain the latter from downward movement with thehead and scale, said index engaging and moving upwardly with the headand scale on their return to normal position, and means for returningthe head and scale to said normal position.

2. In combination in a golf club, a shaft, a

head slidably mounted thereonand having aV scale bearing portion, anindex, means be-4 tween the shaft and index to restrain the latter fromdownward movement with the head and scale, said index by frictionalengagement moving upwardly with the head and scale on their return tonormal position, and means for returning the head and scale to saidnormal position.

3. In combination in a golf club, a shaft,

a head slidably mounted thereon and having a scale bearing portion, anindex, an abutment on the shaft against which the index bears torestrain the same from downward movement with the head and scale, saidindex engaging aiid moving upwardly with the head and scale on theirreturn to normal position, and means for returning the head and scale tosaid normal position.

4. In combination in a golf club, a shaft, a head slidablyinoimtedthereon and having a scale bearing portion, an index, means between tlieshaft and index to restrain the latter from downward movement with thehead and scale, said index engaging and moving upwardly with the headand scale on their return to normal position, and means for returningthe head and scale to said normal position, said head being free toreturn as soon as it reaches its downward limit.

5. In combination in a golf club, a shaft,

.a head slidably mounted thereon and having a scale bearing portion, anindex, means between the shaft and index to restrain the latter fromdownwardr movement with the head and scale, said index engaging andmoving upwardly with the head and scale on their return to normalposition, and means for returning the head and scale to said normalposition, and a compression spring for giving the head its returnmovement, substantially as described.

6. In combination in a golf club, a shaft, a head slidahly mountedthereon and having a scale bearing portion, an index, means between theshaft and index to restrain the latter from downward movement with thehead and scale, said index engaging and moving upwardly with the headand scale on their return to normal position, and means for returningthe head and scale to said normal position, said index encircling a partof the head in frictional engagement therewith, and having a tailportion extending downwardly and engaging said restraining means.

7. In combination in a golf club or the like, a hollow shaft, a headslidable thereon, a spring for controlling the slidable head, a scaleand index finger and an abutment fixed in the hollow shaft andprojecting through the head for controlling the index finger,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I'aliix my signa- 'MILTON B. REACH.

Y ture.

